Vos the Boss in Women's Road Race

Marianne Vos of the Netherlands celebrates as she crosses the finish line ahead of Elizabeth Armitstead of Great Britain to win the women's road race at the Olympic Games on July 29, 2012, in London. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

LONDON, July 29, 2012 (AFP) — Dutch cycling sensation Marianne Vos ended years of frustration on the world stage by dominating Britain's Lizzie Armitstead in a two-up sprint to win Olympic road race gold on Sunday.

Armitstead finished second at over a bike's length behind to take the silver—Britain's first medal of the Games—with Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia winning the bronze after 140km of road racing.

Four years after finishing sixth in Beijing and having collected an amazing five consecutive runner-up places at the world road race championships, Olympic gold had become Vos's obsession.

"After Beijing, that was the only thing that was on my mind for four years," said the Dutchwoman, who owns an impressive collection of titles in several cycling disciplines. "Now that it's happened, it's incredible. Now the gold is mine."

With the pressure on Britain to claim a medal after the men's road race whitewash on Saturday, the British women made sure there would be no repeat with both Emma Pooley and Armitstead among the main protagonists.

And despite missing out on gold, an emotional Armitstead was delighted to hand the hosts their first medal of the Games.

"I am very, very happy. To be an Olympic medalist at your home Games and the first one is something I cannot get my head around," she said.

Vos, a world road champion at the age of 19, came into the Games as the woman to beat after shaking off the setback of a broken collarbone to win five stages and the overall title at the women's Giro d'Italia.

After some early attacks by her Dutch teammates, the 25-year-old showed aggressive Briton Pooley, a constant threat on the undulating Box Hill circuit, that she could give as good as she got.

"I knew it was 140km and you need some energy for the finish," she said. "But I also knew that a hard race was good for me and also the others had to follow and use their energy. For me, it was a plan to attack early, many times, to tire myself and also to tire out the others."

With earlier rain making roads slippery, leading to several crashes, and early attacks taking their toll, most of the peloton was caught napping when Zabelinskaya launched the decisive move with 45km left.

Italy's former world champion Tatiana Guderzo said: "It was the downhill, not the climb, that really made the difference.

"Most of the riders had to slow down because of the slippery conditions, while the breakaway escaped."

Vos, Armitstead, and, soon after, American Shelley Olds joined the Russian and together the quartet went on to build a lead of around 45 seconds, which would never come under threat.

Canadian Clara Hughes was one of many hopefuls who missed out.

"I was there when it went, and took a gamble to wait when Zabelinskaya went," she said. "Then when Armitstead went I was caught behind the Americans. I don't know whether I could have gone with them."

Olds eventually dropped out of the lead group, leaving the trio to go on and race for the gold.

In the final few kilometers Vos was sandwiched in between her rivals, with Russian time trial champion Zabelinskaya happily driving them to the line.

"I am not as fast a sprinter than them, for me it was just as good to get the bronze medal," she later explained.

It took until the final 200 meters for the race's second decisive move to come, and, given Armitstead's reputed finishing power, it was no surprise it came from Vos.

"I knew Lizzie was really fast on the line, so I was not at all confident," said Vos. "I knew I had a chance, I knew I had a big chance. But I also knew that if I made even a little mistake, Lizzie would take the gold.

"So I had to choose the right moment in the finish, and I think I did." Vos Gold Gets Royal Seal of Approval

After Vos handed the Netherlands its first gold of the 2012 Olympics on Sunday, she was promptly feted by her country's royal family.

Prince of Orange Willem-Alexander, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, watched former world champion Vos beat Britain's Lizzie Armitstead in a sprint finish on The Mall—in front of Buckingham Palace, the home of Queen Elizabeth II—to take gold in the 140 km women's road race.

Despite lamenting the fact he had to watch the event on television because much of the action in the Olympic road races happens outside London, he was quick to applaud Vos's triumph.

"An early medal is always important, whether it's gold or silver. We are very grateful to Marianne Vos and her team," said the Prince, the heir apparent to the Dutch throne.

"Without the team she (Vos) would never have made it, they fought for her, helped her and did everything they could to win the gold medal."

The women's peloton was forced to put up with the spells of heavy rain that hit the British capital on Sunday. For road cyclists, however, it is all just part of the job.

"Rain or no rain, you do the race," said bronze medalist Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia. Prince Willem-Alexander added: "These few drops of rain, that's nothing. This (the gold medal) makes up for everything."

But he lamented the fact that cycling fans in the British capital did not get a chance to see the peloton pass more regularly on a city circuit.

"Usually the road race is on a circuit and you can see them (the riders) passing each lap," he said. "But here (in Britain) they always tend to do things slightly differently. So the only way to see this race was on television."

GB Thrilled With Armitstead's 'Magnificent' Silver

A day after its much-fancied men failed to deliver an opening gold medal, Lizzie Armitstead's silver in the women's cycling road race handed Great Britain a welcome boost Sunday.

Armitstead came into the race carrying the hopes of a nation 24 hours after compatriot Mark Cavendish, the world champion, failed to even contend the bunch sprint that he was widely expected to dominate.

And despite being upstaged by Dutchwoman Marianne Vos, a world champion at the age of 19 who has since finished runner-up at world level five times consecutively, defeat was not bitter-sweet for the Yorkshire native.

"Winning this medal in front of my family and friends is the most special thing I've ever experienced in my life; it's so crazy and so inspiring!" said Armitstead.

A former track rider who has won gold, silver and bronze at senior level in the world track championships, the 24-year-old Armitstead has come on leaps and bounds on the road.

She was one of the favorites for gold at the world championships in Copenhagen last year where a late race mix-up with teammate Nicole Cooke, the 2008 Olympic road champion, led to a well-publicized spat between the pair.

British Cycling played down the incident in the lead-up to the Games claiming both riders would get their gold chance depending on race circumstances.

When Olga Zabelinskaya attacked 45 km from the finish of the 140 km race, it was Armitstead who was best placed to respond.

Although ultimately coming off second best in a two-up sprint with race favorite Vos, team coach Chris Newton put her achievement into perspective.

"It's difficult to beat Vos. She's come in with with five stages (wins) from the Giro d'Italia and the overall," he said.

Team GB cycling chief Dave Brailsford, who also heads Team Sky's professional operations on the road, has just finished celebrating Bradley Wiggins' historic yellow jersey win on the Tour de France. After seeing the men's team upstaged on Saturday, he was quick to applaud Armitstead's "magnificent performance."

"We wanted to start off well yesterday and it didn't quite work out, so we wanted to bounce back today and that's what we did and the team rode fantastically," said Brailsford.

"She rode the perfect race, but just didn't quite have the legs in the end. But credit to her, it was a magnificent performance and she deserves it because she's worked so hard for so many years.

"Lizzie took a risk, she took the initiative and it paid off. But I don't think anyone can begrudge Marianne winning this race as she was phenomenal."

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